Steam on the Wind
by SilverEcho
Summary: This is so familiar. Ari, do I know you? Kakashi


Hi there everyone! **waves hand **I haven't written anything in a long time, but I hope you guys like this!

"Mommy, Mommy! Da's home!"

I looked out of the laundry's window and watched little Toru run across the courtyard. He threw himself against his mother's legs and hugged her knees. She looked in the direction he had come, one hand held over her mouth, happy tears coursing down her cheek.

A large, rugged man came suddenly into view. He was laughing heartily as he swept Toru into a bear hug and kissed his wife.

I turned away from this happy scene and poured more hot water into the wooden tub. Soap swirled lazily upward in grey spirals. I plunged my hands into the tub and started vigorously kneading the clothes inside.

Shocked cries made me turn back to the window, soapy water dripping from my hands. As I watched, the father's assistant and a young boy with bright yellow hair stepped into the courtyard. They were supporting someone between them. All I could tell about the person was that he or she had silver hair and wore a facemask.

A girl and another boy trailed behind the trio. The leaf headbands the girl and two boys wore showed that they were shinobi and came from the hidden leaf village.

Izuka, the apprentice, and the yellow-haired boy gently placed their cargo on the porch. I could now see that it was another shinobi, a man. He was of Chunin rank or higher, as he wore the green vest and blue shirt and pants.

Tsui, the mother, kneeled next to the man and seemed to be saying something to him. She looked back up and called out my name.

"Ariiiiiii! Come quickly!"

I wiped off my hands and ran to the porch as quickly as I could go.

**Kakashi POV**

As I was brought into the courtyard, everything was blurry and spinning. I hung limply between Naruto and Izuka, too exhausted to move a muscle. I stared blankly down at the ground, watching it the best I could.

Naruto and Izuka lay me gently down on the porch and stood back. Hane's wife, Tsui, kneeled down and called to me, asking if I could hear her. I twitched one of my hands. Tsui saw and called out to someone.

"Ariiiiiii! Come quickly!"

But before Ari, whoever that was, could come, I slipped into unconsciousness.

Something was pounding in the back of my head. I sat still a few moments, trying to decide what had caused it and if it would help if I held my hand to the area.

I decided it would help and tried to raise my arm.

Nothing happened.

Apparently my arm had decided it was quite comfortable and didn't wish to be moved, thank you very much.

I tried opening my eye, hoping for better results. It opened grudgingly, with a rusty feeling. I stared at the white plaster ceiling and blinked a few times.

Something warm and wet was being rubbed against one of my hands. I sent messages to my neck muscles, demanding them to move in the correct direction. After a moment of stubbornness, they slowly complied. My head swung over to investigate the source of pressure on my hand.

It was a girl. She had my left hand in hers and was carefully rubbing a damp washcloth against the injured knuckles. As I watched, she placed the washcloth back into a clay bowl and started wrapping clean bandages around the wound.

Her back was to me so I couldn't clearly see her face, but she had shiny, straight black hair that hung down to the small of her back. It was neatly bound for about a third of its length. Jagged bangs fell almost to the corner of her mouth. I couldn't see what color her eyes were, but I could see that her eyelashes were long.

With a sigh, she finished wrapping my hand and placed it back onto the blanket I was under. She picked up the clay bowl and stood up, cracking her shoulders as she rose.

It looked as though she was leaving.

I made a coughing noise in my throat. I didn't want to be left alone!

She looked down at me. I looked up at her and blinked.

Now that she had stood up I could se that she was probably about twenty. Her blue shirt fell mid-thigh and was belted across the waist. She also wore black pants.

But what was the most interesting were her eyes. One was a dark, glowing green while the other was a dark violet.

How interesting…

She stared at me quietly for a few moments, then opened her mouth.

At that moment I realized just how sad 'hi' could sound.


End file.
